What are you looking forward to in December? Spending time with family and friends during the holidays, watching the birds gather in your snowy backyard, or celebrating “Bathtub Party Day” maybe? These are just some of the things that inspired artists and designers to create their desktop wallpapers this month.

All wallpapers in this post come in versions with and without a calendar for December 2018 and can be downloaded for free — as it has been our monthly tradition since more than nine years already. To cater for an extra bit of December joy, we also collected some wallpaper favorites from past years at the end of the post. Happy December and happy holidays!

Further Reading on SmashingMag:

60 Beautiful Christmas Photoshop Tutorials Winter- And Holiday-Inspired Icon Sets How To Draw A Cartoon In Illustrator How To Create Dramatic Vector Illustrations

Please note that:

All images can be clicked on and lead to the preview of the wallpaper, You can feature your work in our magazine by taking part in our Desktop Wallpaper Calendar series. We are regularly looking for creative designers and artists to be featured on Smashing Magazine. Are you one of them?

“Everyone is in the mood for Christmas when December starts. Therefore I made this Christmas wreath inspired wallpaper. Enjoy December and Merry Christmas to all!” — Designed by Melissa Bogemans from Belgium.

“During Christmas season, in the cold, colorless days of winter, Cardinal birds are seen as symbols of faith and warmth! In the part of America I live in, there is snowfall every December. While the snow is falling, I can see gorgeous Cardinals flying in and out of my patio. The intriguing color palette of the bright red of the Cardinals, the white of the flurries and the brown/black of dry twigs and fallen leaves on the snow-laden ground, fascinates me a lot, and inspired me to create this quaint and sweet, hand-illustrated surface pattern design as I wait for the December 2018 snowfall in my town!” — Designed by Gyaneshwari Dave from the United States.

“You know that warm feeling when you get to spend cold winter days in a snug, homey, relaxed atmosphere? Oh, yes, we love it too! It is the sentiment we set our hearts on for the holiday season, and this sweet snowy tenderness is for all of us who adore watching the snowfall from our windows. Isn’t it romantic?” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

“The tiny flakes of snow have just begun to shower and we know it’s the start of the merry hour! Someone is all set to cram his sleigh with boxes of love as kids wait for their dear Santa to show up! Rightly said, ’tis the season of snow, surprise and lots and lots of fun! Merry Christmas!” — Designed by Sweans Technologies from London.

“Everything that reminds me of the cold days of December. I’ve tried to put everything in one illustration, the snow, hot coffee, mountains, snowman. Also my illustration is blue, it’s a cold color, so this give the illustration more of a winter effect.” — Designed by Dennis van den Heuvel from Belgium.

“Of all the months of the year, there is not a month so welcome to the young or so full of happy associations as this last month of the year. A month of giving, celebrations, and holidays. Christmas month is here. Make this last month of the year special for you and the ones around you.” — Designed by Procurement Software from India.

“Have you ever noticed how people have characteristic (or weird) poses playing instruments? It was my inspiration for drawing very simple and funny stick-figure musicians. Over the years I have drawn everything from violinists to pipa players (Chinese instrument) and from electric guitarists to tubaists. I never get bored of drawing new instrumentalists, ensembles or, in this case, a Christmas band. I wish you a very happy December with lots of music!” — Designed by Franke Margrete from The Netherlands.

“December is that time of the year where snows starts to fall. It’s from this moment that we can go skiing and snowboarding again. It’s the best time of the year.” — Designed by Jasper Bogaert from Belgium.

“December is when winter begins, so I decided to go for some nice, cold, pastel colors and a wintery scenario. The ram is a family-related symbol and it’s cute, so I named it Meeeh.” — Designed by Ana Matos from Portugal.

“December always reminds me of snow and being with other people. That’s why I created two snowflakes Snow & Flake who are best buddies and love being with each other during winter time.” — Designed by Ian De Lantsheer from Belgium.

“Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year! Once we’ve had our fill of turkey and welcomed the holiday season, we’re constantly encouraged to get into the spirit of the festive season.” — Designed by Mobile App Development from India.

“December automatically brings to mind the Christmas spirit, the smell of delicious food, and the joy of opening beautiful presents. A couple of years ago I volunteered in a homeless shelter for a while. I even spent New Years’ Eve at the shelter. And ever since, Christmas also reminds me that a lot of others are much less fortunate than me…” — Designed by Kim Haesen from Belgium.

“‘We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.’ (John Hope Franklin)” — Designed by Dipanjan Karmakar from India.

“Since we often yearn for a peaceful and quiet place to work, we have found inspiration in the famous house on the River Drina in Bajina Bašta, Serbia. Wouldn’t it be great being in nature, away from the civilization, swaying in the wind and listening to the waves of the river smashing your house, having no neighbors to bother you? Not sure about the Internet, though…” — Designed by PopArt Studio from Serbia.

“There’s no more special time for a fire than in the winter. Cozy blankets, warm beverages, and good company can make all the difference when the sun goes down. We’re all looking forward to generating some hygge this winter, so snuggle up and make some memories.” — Designed by The Hannon Group from Washington D.C.

“‘Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.’ (Edith Sitwell) — Designed by Dipanjan Karmakar from India.

“As a Belgian, December reminds me of snow, cosiness, winter, lights and so on. However, in the Southern Hemisphere it is summer at this time. With my illustration I wanted to show the different perspectives on December. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!” — Designed by Jo Smets from Belgium.

“There’s nothing better than a tall glass of Golden Eggnog while sitting by the Christmas tree. Let’s celebrate the only time of year this nectar of the gods graces our lips.” — Designed by Jonathan Shears from Connecticut, USA.

“Santa’s tired of winter (and the North Pole) and is flying to the South part of the globe to relax a little bit. He deserves a little vacation, don’t you think?” — Designed by Ricardo Gimenes from Sweden.

“My brother-in-law has been on a design buzzword kick where he calls everything minimal, to the point where he wishes people, “Have a minimal day!” I made this graphic as a poster for him.” — Designed by Danny Gugger from Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

Please note that we respect and carefully consider the ideas and motivation behind each and every artist’s work. This is why we give all artists the full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience throughout their works. This is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us, but rather designed from scratch by the artists themselves.

Thank you to all designers for their participation. Join in next month!